Kagwahiv - Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The Kagwahiv economy is based on hunting, fishing, and shifting cultivation, principally of maize, manioc, and several varieties of potatoes. Fishing is done with bow and arrow from canoes during the dry season, from platforms during the rainy season, or by poisoning pools with timbó. Hunting, now done with shotguns, was done with feathered arrows of bamboo with notched hardwood tips inserted for small game or a corner-notched bamboo point attached to a hardwood tip for large game and warfare. Shifting fields are cleared annually for gardening in jungle areas assigned by the headman. An individual might call a collective work party to help, feasting them in return. Women plant and harvest, although this is increasingly done in family groups. Fruit and potatoes are also planted at the edge of the settlements. Fruit, honey, and turtles and their eggs are gathered, mostly by women and children.

Industrial Arts. The main transportation is by canoe; they were once made of bark, but today wooden canoes are purchased from Brazilians. Pottery has not been made in the memory of living informants. Hammocks are woven from cotton planted in the settlements.